Of Smiles and Sketches
by RobinsReckoning
Summary: She was nothing like her father. The only things they had in common were hair colour, a tendency for random laugher, and an obsession with a certain Bird and Bat. "It wasn't any of these individual things that made the other students fear her. It was the fact that she looked like the younger, female incarnation of the Joker." T because of the Joker (who knows what will happen)
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Don't own. _Yes we do_. No we don't. _Yes we do, tell them we do._ But we don't, and that'd be lying. You really think they'd fall for that?

Anyway, this has probably been done a thousand times, but I'm doing it anyway.

A/N: Artemis (and possibly later, [if you guys like this] the team) know who Robin is. 'B' refers to batman (in case you can't guess that). Please read and review, I love feedback, even if it's bad. Also, I'm trying really hard to start writing longer chapters (this is 2,400 words, usually I barely get half that) so let me know if you like/hate this.

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She stuck out like a sore thumb. The bright smile on her face wasn't something to be scared of; but people still moved out of her way. Her pale completion and skinny figure were not intimidating; if anything it had the opposite affect. Her hair, which appeared to be dyed green (only one person on the entire planet had that hair naturally), seemed to simply be a fashion statement. A bold one at that; this was Gotham Academy we were talking about. It wasn't any of these individual things that made the other students fear her. It was the fact that she looked like the younger, female incarnation of the Joker.

It took a lot to even mildly shock Richard Grayson, also known as Robin, anymore. He had seen more in fourteen short years than most people had in their whole lives. Even so, the green-haired girl who took a seat next to him caused him to do a double take. She smiled at him, opening her notebook and putting pencil to paper. The Boy Wonder tried to see what she was doing. It was home room, and it was her first day (as far as he knew) so she wouldn't have any homework. On the paper was the outline of a person, like artists did, the vague shapes making up a human body. The only thing it gave away at the moment was that they were short, skinny, and with short hair. Judging from the lack of curves it was a male figure. The young artist looked up and caught Dick staring.  
"Can I help you?" she asked, not quite angry, but mildly irritated.  
"You're very good. Who is it?" She got this devious little smile as she spoke.  
"That's the question."  
"So they're a made up character?"  
"No silly. It's what I imagine Robin looks like. You know, without the tights and cape. I've already done Kid Flash. He was a lot easier." She turned the page to show a picture of Kid Flash in regular clothes, who, much to Dick's surprise, looked a lot like the real Wally. The picture was in full colour, flaming red hair and bright green eyes, and looked amazing.  
"How'd you do that? Work out what they look like a mean." The Boy Wonder had to work out if she knew their secret identities, or it was just a lucky guess.  
"Just because I can't see his cheekbones and forehead doesn't mean I can't get a good idea of his bone structure."  
"Why is Robin so hard then? Shouldn't he be easier, having a smaller mask?"  
"Have you tried finding a decent picture of him? Most of the pictures are blurry, have bad lighting, are from a bad angle, or someone is in the way. He's more careful." Phew. That was a close one. She went back to drawing, but I realised she added none of the colour to this one that she had on Kid Flash's portrait.

Monday morning double science wasn't Dick's favourite class. It's wasn't that he did enjoy the subject, he loved it and was pretty good too. He even had a pretty good teacher. But a lot of his classmates were complete idiots. Idiots and chemicals don't mix. At least, not without a big explosion. I listened during the role call to pick up the new girl's name.  
"Jessica Ter?" Alright, that was an odd last name.  
"Yep, here, present, whatever," she said, concentrating on the picture rather than the teacher. There was silence for a moment, until she gave up, looking up at the teacher.  
"Seriously, no one gets it? For a city protected by the World's Greatest Detective, you sure are slow." Dick sat there, thinking for a second. 'Jessica Ter. Jessi Ter. Jess Ter. Jesster. Jester!'  
"Jester?" He said, more like a question than a statement.  
"There we go." She patted the ebony on the head, almost like she was praising a dog.  
"Jessica, I don't know what it was like at your old school, but you're going to have to wash out that dye. It has to be your natural colour," the teacher, ms. Green, said.  
"This is my natural colour," she fired back.  
"So it's true then. You're the Joker's kid?" One of the other students asked.  
"Yeah, what of it?"  
"Dude, don't tick her off, she'll kill us!" Another whispered to his friend. At this, Jessica laughed.  
"Don't be stupid! There are too many witnesses for a stunt like that!" She threw her hands up, as if it was obvious and everyone should know that. The class went silent.  
"Seriously, if anyone else had said that, it would have been taken as a joke." Still, silence.  
"Okay I can not believe I'm saying this but can we please get back to science?"  
"If you're the Joker's kid, why's that your last name?"  
"It's my middle name genius, I didn't have a last name, so when they took me that kinda became my last name. So, what are we learning in science? Elements? You know my favourite element is Dubnium-" She was desperate to turn the subject back to the teacher.  
"Do you actually look like that, or do you dye your hair and wear makeup so you look like your dad?"  
"The Joker dumped me in the same acid that made him like that. I literally said this was my natural colour just a few seconds ago. So, what work do I need to-"  
"So why aren't you crazy?"  
"I was three days old, I didn't have a mind to break. Now can we please-"  
"Have you ever helped him commit a crime?"  
"No, I-"  
"Have you ever killed anyone?"  
"ENOUGH! Shut up, all of you! I am NOT my father, and if you idiots can't get that through your thick skulls, I hope someone can find a gun powerful enough to put a bullet between your eyes, because they'd be doing the rest of humanity a favour! Now can we please get back to science? Unlike you morons, I actually aspire to having a successful career without sponging off my parents."

Her timing was brilliant. She packed up her stuff, walked towards the door, and just as her foot passed over the doorframe, the bell rang. The green haired girl dumped her stuff in her locker, taking out an apple. She smiled to herself as the crowd parted to let her through. The cafeteria was clean and smelling strongly of cleaning products and unhealthy food. As she took the first bit from her apple, a boy from her last class walked by, fat wallet looking like it was about to fall out of his pocket. A few seconds after, one of the boy's friends walked by, also with his riches on display. 'They want me to do something bad,' she realised, finishing the apple. She threw the core into the bin with much more force than was really necessary. 'Where do I go? I don't really have any friends...'  
"Jessica, over here!" A blue eyed, black haired boy called. She recognised him as the boy she had petted on the head. He was sitting with a blonde girl who looked a few years older and a redhead that Jessica recognised from class. Both looked mildly pissed that he had called her over. She stood next to their table, shifting uncomfortably from foot to foot, unsure if she should sit or leave. Dick decided for her, pulling out a chair and pushing her down onto it.  
"You don't have to let me sit with you just because you feel bad. I'm used to being by myself." Please don't make me leave, please don't make me leave.  
"Unlike the others, I'm not scared of you. There's no way they'd let you into the school if you were dangerous." I rolled my eyes.  
"And here I thought it was my charms and witty humour." The boy and redhead girl laughed, while the blonde only managed a forced smile. I hate forced smiles, they made my stomach churn.  
"I'm Dick by the way. This is Barbara," he pointed to the redhead, "and this is Artemis," and then to the blonde girl.  
"I'm Jessica. But you already know that. I prefer to be called Jess, or Jessie." Dick nodded.  
"So, how'd you get into this school anyway? I doubt an orphanage would send you here, and I haven't heard anything about another scholarship."  
"A five dollar note I found on the side of the road. I've always been good at math, so I worked out the algorithm for the production and distribution of those scratch and win lotto tickets. Bought one, won enough to come here."  
"If you can do that, why'd you chose to come here? Why didn't you leave?" Artemis asked, as if offended that I would even think of staying here.  
"I looked like this. Do you think I could leave?" I was so close to spilling, to telling these three strangers everything. To telling them that the condition of me not being put in a padded cell was that I couldn't leave Gotham. 'They know they aren't going to get rid of the crazies, so they're trying to keep them in one place.' The two girls were confused, while Dick looked... Sorry? The bell rang at that moment, and I stood abruptly.

He watched her nock on the door hesitantly, the advanced Math class having started ten minutes ago. "Yes?" The old and extremely boring teacher asked, drawing the last stroke of his equation. Somedays he would haut give us one extremely hard problem and tell us to work it out without calculators and that would take up most of the lesson.  
"I was told to come and join this class," she said in a matter of factly tone. Dick could already tell she didn't like the teacher, and had a feeling he didn't like her either.  
"You're meant to be in basic math. This is advanced math, which would be way beyond your skill level. If you find it too easy, try the intermediate class first-"  
"I just came from there. They were doing Pythagorus. I taught myself to do what's taking them hours to learn in a matter of minutes."  
"Even so you should stay in the class you were assigned to. This class is for students with extremely high IQs, I doubt you'll be able to keep up-"  
"I got into this school using algorithms that would give you a headache!"  
"No, you got lucky. You're just another idiot scum who happened to get lucky and had enough of a brain not to blow it on something stupid." She was silent for a moment, tears threatening to overflow and race down her white cheeks, then something in her brain clicked.  
"I'm sorry for your loss, but you can't blame what my father did on me."  
"I don't know what you're talking about. Get out of my class room."  
"Fine!" She walked back towards the door, pushing it open with too much force, letting the bang of the metal hitting brick echo, before turning to face the class. Her eyes were red and tears were starting to fall. "It's 27.385, by the way." She smiled widely, the creepiness roughly comparable to that of the Joker. "Now I've got a question for you. If I'm an idiot, what does that make you?" She slammed the door triumphantly, but Dick heard the way her steps speed up and turned into a flat out run.

Artemis sat in her history class, so bored she had started using a rubber band and pieces of paper to piss people off. Her phone buzzed in her pocket, and she quickly pulled it out before the noise could alert her teacher. She looked up quickly to confirm the teacher was still engrossed in her lecture, and read the text message.

Dick: I need ur help

Artemis: ok, anything 2 get out of this

Dick: Jess ran out of class. Need u 2 find her & make sure she doesn't do anything

Artemis: I can't believe B. is making us do this. Y don't u go?

Dick: I'm pretty sure she ran in2 the girls b/room.

Artemis: ok I get it. On my way.

She slipped her phone back in her pocket, and raised her hand. "Miss, can I go to the bathroom?"  
"No. As I was saying-"  
"Miss, I really need to go."  
"No, you can hold it."  
"I just got my period!" She blurted out, resorting to every girl's best excuse. The teacher softened a bit, nodding and letting her leave.

Jessica could hear the footsteps outside the door before it opened. She had enough time to lock herself in a stall and hide, but she didn't. 'Who cares?' she thought, 'they can't think any less of me...' She was still crying, with random giggles thrown in every now and then, when a hand rested lightly on her shoulder. She looked up through teary eyes to see Artemis. Jessica instinctively moved away form the hand, and as a result, Artemis withdrew it. Unsure of what to do, the blonde started to pick up the books and pencils scattered along the floor.  
She picked up one of particular interest; a book filled with drawings. The paper was thicker in this book, so she could tell it was designed for art. "Can I see?" she asked the teary girl, her mission forgotten as curiosity took over. The first couple of pages were filled with pictures of superheroes, but as she got deeper into the pages, the images became seemingly more random. A vile of chemicals surrounded by storm clouds. A glowing green rock in front of a red sun. A gun in a puddle of blood, lying in an abandoned alley that looked a little too familiar. A thick green forest with various arrows stuck into the trucks of trees. And then people. "Why is there a picture of Dick in here? And me?" She looked surprised, and she stood up to come stand by me. "There's not. That's Robin," she pointed to the black and white picture. "And that's Artemis, without the... the costume." Realisation dawned on her, and she snatched the book out of the other girl's hand. "Oh my god..." She whispered, holding the book up to compare the two.  
"Oh my god..."

**A/N: Next chapter dedication for whoever can tell me why Jessica said Dubnium was her favourite element! Review please!**


	2. Chapter 2

The edited version of this has deleted it's self three times. You guys are just gonna have to read it like it is until I can fix whatever bug is making it do this. Sorry.

do not own.

please review, it's my birthday in a couple of days :)

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"How didn't I see it before? I mean, you didn't even change your name, for crying out loud!" Jess was walking around the bathroom, frustration flowing off her as she tried to see how she had missed it. Artemis sat next to the sink, thinking about how she'd be the one who had to explain this to Batman. "Dick Grayson is Robin... That's why he wanted to be friends with me! Batman needed to keep an eye on me... Damn it! I knew no one would want to actually be friends with me!" Jessica shouted, and Artemis was thankful this block wasn't near any classes at the moment. She stopped, then suddenly leapt to stand nose to nose with Artemis. "What's wrong with you?" She asked, poking the archer's cheek.  
"I'm trying to think of what the hell I'm gonna say to Batman when he finds out you know…" she grumbled, pushing Jess and slipping of the counter.  
"Then I'll do it. Simple as that."  
"I don't think you can just-"  
"Don't tell me I can't. Besides, I haven't seen Batman in ages…"

* * *

The girl was barely nine, but had already been submitted to more horrendous tortures than most people would ever get in their lifetime. And the sick this was, it was all for a laugh.  
Her dad was crazy. She knew that. There was something seriously messed up going on in his head. He had killed people, committed a wide variety of horrible crimes, but this knowledge didn't help her escape the pain, so for the moment, it was pushed out of her mind. She was slammed up against the wall, a pale hand around her slightly less pale neck. "You don't look like you're having much fun. No daughter of mine should leave the house without her best smile!" His pocket knife opened, sharp, blood stained blade reflecting her fear. He slid the knife into her mouth, pressing backwards. Her skin there was tough. This wasn't the first time he had given her a smile, and the skin was scarred and tough. Her skin was pale enough that it was barely noticeable, only if you looked closely in the right light. But all that didn't matter, because he sliced her cheeks in half, all the way this time, instead of just the surface. She screamed, hands to her ripped cheeks, feeling the flaps of skin that hung down now. He then ran his fingers along her rib cage, causing a tickling sensation to run through her. She was in so much pain, her cheeks burning, but she laughed. It wasn't a happy laugh though. It was one that was forced out of her, a reaction her father was trying to make automatic. To laugh in the face of pain.  
It was working, but barely. When she skinned her knee, she laughed. When she cut her finger on a knife, she giggled. A punch in the gut, a snort of laughter. But the bigger pains, breaking bones, deep cuts; she couldn't laugh. No matter how many times it was beaten into her.

Tears had long since stopped running down her ruined cheeks. She now looked at her face in the mirror, holding the needle and thread in shaky hands. It wasn't great; the thread wasn't sterile or even meant to be used for this, but it was better than bleeding to death. No doubt the wound would become extremely infected, leaving an even worse scar than a nicely stitched up wound would have. Not only did she not have the money for medical treatment, but she doubted the Joker would let her go. So she painfully stuck the needle through her toughened, bloody skin, fighting the urge to close her eyes in pain. She couldn't stitch herself up if she couldn't see. And somewhere inside of her, deep inside of her, the messed up daughter of the Joker giggled.  
It took her hours, each individual stitch requiring her to stab her cheeks twice. And there were a lot of stitches. "Well will you look at that? Now it really does look like a smile!" She turned to face both her mother and father. The clowns walked toward her, and her small fists balled up into weapons of mass destruction.  
"Look puddin'! Now she looks so much more like you! I could just pinch those cheeks!"  
She reached behind her, desperately looking for a weapon to help in her attack. Foot steps quickened and the young girl was suddenly lifted off her feet, shirt in the hands of the Joker. Harley Quinn just stood there, laughing. "See? You're panicking but you still look like you're smiling! I did it for your own good," the madman shouted, slamming her head into the mirror. Say what you want about him, but his skinny figure hides his true strength, and he was tough. He drop the young girl then, her back painfully hitting the sink, then dropping to the ground. Pieces of the shattered mirror cut her skin as gravity pulled them towards her. A rather land shard landed next to her hand, and she picked it up. Her firm grip was causing blood to swell in her palm, but she didn't care. She let out a soft laugh, tears escaping in the process. "Now now Jester, you don't really think you can best me? Even the Bat has trouble with that sometimes!" He laughed, fearlessly walking towards me. I swiped at him, razor edged shard millimetres from his neck. Had I pushed forwards a bit more...  
"Now you're really starting to annoy me. Put that down and I'll only break one of your fingers."  
"No." The two stared at me in shock. Jester wasn't one to talk much, let alone backchat.  
And then it happened.  
The window shattered as easily as the mirror, pieces of glass flying towards the mismatched family. A man, if that was what it was, landed with a small thump in between the girl and her 'parents'. "Batsy! Long time no see! Nice of you to drop in!" The joker laughed at his own stupid joke, before the receiving a punch to the face.  
"Gee Batman, you didn't have to spoil our fun. We were just having a heart to heart chat with Jester. Ya didn't have to hit mister jay over that." She swung her ridiculously sized mallet at Batman, who easily dodged it. It didn't take much for her to join the Joker, on the ground, unconscious. The dark knight turned to face the young girl, who stepped backwards into the glass in fear. "I'm not going to hurt you," he said in a gruff voice. Her grip on the makeshift weapon tightened. Her feet were cut up and bleeding, but she refused to back down. She knew her dad was one of the bad guys, but she had seen the way this 'Batman' had taken down villains. It didn't matter that she wasn't like them, she knew Batman was a 'hit now ask questions later' sort of person. She had learnt to treat every person as hostile until proven otherwise, and that included vigilantes. A hand reached out and the mirror shard nearly took his fingers off. He pulled his hand back, but took a step closer. Even as short as she was, she managed to jump up and aim to stab his head. The blow was deflected easily, and she found her right arm caught in his. She went to punch with her left, but he blocked that easily, then sent his left fist across her face. It didn't hit her, but it passed close enough for her to try and back off. He wouldn't allow that though, bringing his hand back into the inside of her elbow, and in a few quick movements of his arms, she found herself in an armlock. His hand pressed against her wrist lightly, but still pain coursed through her and caused her to drop to her knees. A giggle escaped her lips as he snapped handcuffs onto her tiny wrists. "Stay here." She smiled a one sided smile, watching the Dark Knight turn his back on her. Her hands flew to her head, pulling out the pin she keep in there for these kind of situations. A few seconds and two light clicks later the cuffs were off. She trotted forward the catch up. "Where are you going?" she asked, tugging lightly on his cape.  
"Home. I'm done here." He continued walking, but the young girl held onto the cape for dear life.  
"What about me?"  
"The police will-"  
"No they won't." Batman stopped to face the girl.  
"You don't even know what I was going to say."  
"I don't have to. It's the same thing every time. We'll find you a home, we'll help you, we'll take care of you. It never happens." She looked at her parents. "They always get me back."  
"I'll make sure you go somewhere safe then."  
"Where? No one will adopt me. No orphanage is gonna take me in. I haven't committed any crimes, so prisons out. That leave the Asylum. Which brings us back to square one."  
"Then what do you want me to do?"  
"Get me out of here."

* * *

"Recognised: Robin, B01. Artemis, B07. Jessica, A14." The electronic female voice announced. The team's guest looked around the cave in awe, before settling her eyes on the hulking form that was the Batman. It was difficult to tell, but Robin could see the cowl shift slightly as the Dark Knight raised an eyebrow. Jessica smiled widely and rocked forward onto her toes as she stood in front of him.  
"Hi," she said brightly. Batman looked down at her; he was nearly a foot and a half taller.  
"Can I help you?" He said gruffly.  
"Batman this is-" Robin began, before being cut off by Jess.  
"No need for introductions. Batsy remembers me, right?" Batman didn't react in any way, but Robin caught the way she used the Joker's nickname for Batman with so much venom.  
She hates him. She hates him more than she hates her dad.  
"Jessica Ter. Daughter of Harleen Quinnzel and the Joker. Also known as Jester. Allow me to repeat my original question. Can I help you?" Jessica's fake smile turned into a lopsided grin, and she threw her right hand straight towards Batman's face.  
She's smart, she can see skin there and is aiming for that.  
Batman easily blocked it, but Jess was already coming around with her other fist. She got lucky, clipping his jaw. She kicked out, low and towards the knee, making sure she pulled her leg back before Batman could grab it. Fighting anyone else, she would've easily been able to take them down. Unfortunately for her, this was the god-damn Batman. She was pinned to the floor in a few more seconds, giggling the whole time. Batman turned to his protégé.  
"Why did you bring her here?"  
"She knows."  
"How?"  
"Pictures. I think it'd be easier if we just show you." Dick held the sketch book out, and Batman released Jessica in favour of the evidence. He started to flip through it, while Jessica stood, rubbing her sore wrists, to look over his arm. She noticed how he paused a second longer at the picture of the gun in the alley. Even though he quickly flipped to the next one, Jessica noticed. She flipped it back, holding it down so she could study her own picture. "This is your picture, isn't it?" she asked, already knowing the answer. She out two and two together after finding out the identity of Robin. She knew Bruce's story.  
"My picture?"  
"Yeah. I decided one day I was going to draw some of original member of the league and then some, but I couldn't do it. I just drew random things. Took me a while to work out they might not be so random, but I kinda forgot about them up until now. This must be what I drew for you."  
"Did she seriously just go from super pissed off to sympathetic?" Artemis asked Robin in a hushed whisper.  
"Yep."

"So, let me get this straight. You were pissed off at Batman because he broke a promise he made with you years ago..."  
"Yep."  
"You forgave this after you realised you doodled his past..."  
"Yep."  
"And now you're joining the team?"  
"No Wally, I told you, I'm just staying for a few days. I don't have anywhere to stay and there's no way in hell Batsy would let me stay in his house."  
"Jessica?" Robin interrupted.  
"Yeah?"  
"You said Batsy again."  
"I did?"  
"Yeah."  
"Okay, bird brain."  
"You just called me bird brain."  
"Yeah, but I did that on purpose." M'gann and Conner walked into the room, surprised to see a stranger in what they called their home. While Conner became defensive, M'gann looked ecstatic.  
"Hi! Are you a friend of Robin and Artemis?" She said, noting the two people she sat closest to.  
"Um, no not really. I only meet them today. Well, you know, properly."  
"What do you mean, properly?" Artemis ask. Jessica blushed slightly.  
"Well, I mean my dad does, um, business with yours sometimes, so I've seen you, from the shadows though." She turned to Robin. "And you've been caught enough times for me tone able to easily distinguish your scream. I'd only seen you a couple of times. I drew you the first time. I didn't think I'd have enough red to finish it." She made a grab for her folder, holding it to her chest before anyone else could attempt to look at the picture. Wally obviously didn't get the message, snatching it out of her hands and flipping through with super speed. Everyone knew when he'd found it. It wasn't the last picture, but it was near the end. Like when it had first been drawn, she didn't want it to be found again. His face paled, and the book fell open on the table. Even though they tried not to look, everyone caught a glimpse.  
Artemis stared at it, shock but otherwise not showing much emotion.  
M'gann screamed, horrified by the picture.  
Conner looked as he always did, but his eyes turned fearful.  
Kaldur attempted to look brave, but even he couldn't keep the look off his face.  
Wally was rushing to the bathroom.  
Robin looked at Jessica.  
Jessica looked at Robin.  
"Let's not tell Batman about this, agreed?"  
"Agreed."


End file.
